Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
Saturday 20th July - Saturday 4th January 2025
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
Saturday 20th July - Sunday 3rd November 2024
‘Fixing Time’ is a retrospective exhibition across two venues – Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art – exploring 50 years of work by renowned British artist and photographer Ian Macdonald.
Macdonald, boasts a rich and prolific career spanning five decades behind the lens. His photographic journey has been dedicated to documenting life, the evolution of working-class communities, and the rise and fall of industry in Teesside and Cleveland, located in the North-East of England. Macdonald’s extensive body of work aligns with the tradition of British documentary photography that emerged during the mid 1970s and into the 1980s, a period marked by political shifts and social upheaval.
Distinctive in his approach, Macdonald developed a unique style using traditional black-and-white film and print-making techniques. This distinctive aesthetic not only reflects his artistic prowess but also signifies his growing confidence in employing photography as a tool to address the pressing issues observed and lived during that transformative era.
‘Fixing Time’, the inaugural comprehensive retrospective of Macdonald’s oeuvre, unveils the lesser explored yet equally significant facets of his photographic practice. This includes previously unseen portraits captured in secondary schools across England over a span of 35 years. The exhibition also features detailed large-scale drawings—testaments to Macdonald’s skill as a trained draughtsman—which often serve as precursors to his photographic projects. The exhibition incorporates a wealth of photographs, archival materials, publications, and videos, offering a deeper understanding of the “quiet man of British documentary photography” and highlighting Macdonald’s substantial contribution to the realm of British photography.
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
Fixing Time here at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens bears witness to the overwhelming change in the North-East of England over the last 50 years, drawing together the major photographic series Redcar Blast Furnace and Smith’s Dock Shipyard. Exhibited together the photographs capture the last days of heavy industry in Teesside, uncovering the innerworkings of the industries and the workers who provided their lifeblood. The scale of industry in Teesside is evident from the sprawling sites, which have now all but gone. Macdonald’s photographs are made possible through the close relationships formed on-site over an extended period of time capturing not only the hard gritty work but also the beauty and dignity in heavy industry. Also on display are a series of portraits taken in comprehensive schools across England over a 35 year period during Macdonald’s time as a teacher. The portraits exude the individuality of the young people photographed.
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
‘Fixing Time’ here at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art draws together several important photographic series and drawings unearthing the history, stories and people connected to the hinterlands of the River Tees Estuary and its surrounding towns and cities. The photographs capture the lost fishing community at Greatham Creek, a saltmarsh in the Tees Valley, which thrived for 80 years, and was home to many self-built cabins and boat-houses. Equally dramatic industrial landscapes taken along South Gare, Seal Sands and South Bank define the River Tees striking contrast between nature and built environments. These photographs lead into a selection of portraits and townscapes capturing everyday work and life in urban towns and cities providing a compelling visual journey through Teesside and Cleveland.
Photos: Colin Davison